Hoover seeks attorney general opinion on earlier Sunday alcohol sales

Beef O'Brady's bar 3-5-18

Lisa Marie Meeks pours a drink at the bar at Beef O'Brady's in The Grove shopping center in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, March 5, 2018.

The Hoover City Council tonight voted to seek a state attorney general’s opinion concerning what measures the city would have to take to move up the time Sunday alcohol sales are allowed.

Restaurants and bars in Jefferson and Shelby counties currently cannot sell alcoholic beverages until noon on Sundays, but a law passed by the Legislature last year allows cities and counties where alcohol sales are currently allowed for on-premise consumption on Sundays to move that time up to 10 a.m.

Hoover Councilman John Lyda said he is favor of considering that idea but said the new state law is too ambiguous about how cities and counties can accomplish that.

The City Council tonight passed a resolution to ask the attorney general’s office whether the city can accomplish that by simply passing an ordinance or if the city must hold an election and let people vote on it.

Second, if the city must hold a referendum, the council wants to know if the referendum can be placed on a countywide ballot and voted by residents of the city as part of a countywide general election or if the city must hold a separate special municipal election to decide the matter.

Third, the fact that Hoover is in both Jefferson and Shelby counties and that the laws allowing Sunday alcohol sales in the two counties were passed in different ways complicates the matter.

The law passed in the Legislature last year allowing cities and counties to bump up the time for Sunday alcohol sales to 10 a.m. stated that the law does not apply in counties where Sunday alcohol sales were authorized by a local constitutional amendment, as was the case in Shelby County in 2016.

Hoover City Attorney Phillip Corley said the city doesn’t want to end up with an ordinance that applies to only the part of Hoover in Jefferson County and not the entire city.

Lyda said he was approached by several restaurants and hotels in Hoover that want the opportunity to sell alcoholic beverages earlier on Sundays, as the new “Sunday brunch” law allows.

If Hoover is going to be a destination city that has conventions and a lot of out-of-town guests, “we need to look into it,” Lyda said.

Alicia Daniel, the manager at the Beef O’Brady’s restaurant and bar at The Grove shopping center, said the owner of Beef O’Brady’s is very much in favor of Hoover allowing Sunday alcohol sales at 10 a.m.

Two extra hours to sell alcoholic beverages is not that much of a time difference, but she has had customers asking for alcoholic beverages before noon that she had to turn down, she said. Beef O’Brady’s would definitely sell alcoholic beverages before noon if it could, she said.

Freshwater Land Trust annexation

The Hoover City Council also tonight annexed 259 acres near Ross Bridge owned by the Freshwater Land Trust.

The land is east of Ross Bridge Parkway and north of the James Hill section of Ross Bridge, between the railroad tracks that run along Shannon-Oxmoor Road and Shades Crest Road.

The Freshwater Land Trust about a decade ago bought that property and other land already in the city limits of Hoover to protect it from encroaching development. Shades Creek and several tributaries run through the property.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato has said the annexation fits in with the city’s goal of bringing more land into the city limits where people can enjoy nature. He hopes that in the future the city can partner with the Freshwater Land Trust to build a network of trails on the land, he said.

Libba Vaughan, executive director of the Freshwater Land Trust, said she is excited about the possibilities because her organization also wants to make its land holdings more accessible to the public. A low-impact trail system that allows people to enjoy the property but still protects the environment would be a good thing, she said.

Brocato also said bringing the land into the city will help deter unwanted activity from occurring on the property, such as dumping and gunfire. Vaughan said the Freshwater Land Trust has had some problems with illegal dumping, and having a stronger connection with Hoover and its Police Department might deter that.

In other business tonight, the City Council:

Agreed to maintain a new road being built by Jefferson County between John Hawkins Parkway and Old Montgomery Highway, frequently referred to as an extension of Galleria Boulevard. Tim Westhoven, the chief operations officer for the city, said the county is in the process of acquiring rights of way needed for the project. Appraisals have been completed, and the county should start making offers to property owner within the next month or so. If negotiations go well, he hopes all the land needed for the road will be acquired by the end of this year, he said.

Rejected a bid from Bound Tree Medical to sell the city medical supplies for the Hoover Fire Department because the company was the only bidder. However, the council authorized the mayor to negotiate with the company to obtain lower prices.

Agreed to pay Carcel & G Construction another $78,500 for the Braddock Drive expansion project to accommodate some adjustments to the project requested by Golden Rule BBQ, which is right next to the road. The changes will help prevent erosion, better control water from Braddock Drive and help provide some separation between vehicles in the Golden Rule parking lot and the new retaining wall being built by the city, city records indicate. The project still will be within budget, City Engineer Rodney Long said.

Agreed to let Beef O’Brady’s sell alcoholic beverages in its parking lot at The Grove shopping center as part of its St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on March 17.

Approved an ordinance that allows people to operate home businesses and home day care centers in residential areas as long as the businesses do not interfere with the residential character of the neighborhood and the day care businesses meet guidelines established by the Alabama Department of Human Resources and Hoover Fire Department. City Administrator Allan Rice said the city has more than 250 people that have applied for home business licenses, but the city had no legal way to accommodate them.

Had the first reading of an ordinance that would annex a half-acre piece of property in the Inverness Center North office complex that formerly was used as a helipad for Southern Co. Another entity wants to use the land for a structure, and the city wants the land, already surrounded by Hoover, brought into the city limits, City Planner Mac Martin said.